just installed camber kit

and end up adding about -0.5deg LH -0.7deg RH camber (all it could take, really).

The understeer is still there but it is a step in right direction. Tracks straight and I could make 3 wheel squeal going around sharp 90deg corner. We'll have to wait for tires to bed in to make a judgement.

 

Until it stops annoying me. Mind me I do not have high standards and not planning any major spending

EDIT: the front tires show sign of "positive camber" wear, so it isn't necessarily unwarranted mod

 

I haven't had it checked, but OEM specs camber at 0 deg front and -1.2-1.4 deg rear. I haven't touched rear, so as is it has FR - 0.5 , RR - 1.2.

For reference "performance" cars usually have front camber set at ~ -1.2+ for front, and lowering car 1" typically gives about -0.6 deg camber on MacPherson.

Just beware adding negative camber increases toe-in that you'll also need to adjust it too. I had mine set at 1/8" toe-out and it handles curves great (stickier tires and stiffer FR/RR sway-bars would be needed to push it more), but with toe-out it's more sensitive going in straight line. Perhaps setting it to 0 or even 1/16" toe-in would have been better compromise?

Kit costs next to nothing $21 at Amazon, and I'd say it is the best handling mod you can buy. Even if you add the cost of alignment, still best value.

As is car feels fantastic. Depending on conditions (speed/radius/pitch) it can still understeer, but it can made to oversteer too. As close to neutral as you can get on such crude set up. Just wish I could take it again to PCH north of SF for test, but unfortunately this will not happen anytime soon.

 

I've looked at getting springs (TRD and Eibach) but I did not like the lowering, as is there's barely enough clearance for speedbumps, potholes, and occasional gravel roads, etc.

The other aspect that -0.6 negative camber have to come from somewhere, so if the camber range ~3deg, you are loosing that 0.6 on full compression.

With respect to "rear not even" it is due to inherit issue with torsion bar design/rubber bushing.. they need to equalize it prior to putting on the stand. There was a post with the video posted in one of the alignment threads. I am not loosing sleep over it; paid no attention to actual numbers.

BTW I am still on 15" rims and have no plans going to 17". And LRR tires (Michelin Savers) limit how much it can be pushed.

As is it holds but front compresses too much for my liking. Rear with TRD swaybar is fine. Perhaps stiffer front swaybar would help, but then it'd need more camber to compensate for it. Not worth the trouble it is a daily driver, and there is nothing on east coast in the same league as at were you live, YMMV.

 

We have occasional snow and freezing rain; some potholes are easily 4" deep.

When time comes to replace shocks ExcelG are a small step up from OEM. They seem to swallow bigger bumps and reduce body roll. I've only replaced rears (didn't wanna go through another alignment with fronts), but improvement is there and they didn't make rider stiffer.

I wonder if anyone experimented with changing caster angle on Gen-III.

 

Actually it hasn't been an issue for me, but mine has the rear antisway bar, ExcelG shocks on OEM springs and strut tower bar/brace.

From what I recall 4-5 years back, the solution was to drop rear tire pressure, I run 42 front/38 rear. Even 35psi rear would be fine if you don't get occasional passengers/load. Soft front/hard rear tires are known to cause twitch, and soft tall LRR tires with front-heavy FWD are the perfect recipie for that.

The camber and toe-out generally have an opposite effect. Negative camber makes it more stable, and toe-out more sensitive so they cancel each other for most part. As is it is about the same or marginally more sensitive to cross winds (we had 40MPH+ side winds a few days back), but it is definitely more sensitive to input, or rather there is no dead zone in the middle. Rotating steering a few degrees left or right causes car gradually track in that direction.

BUT you don't have to toe-out if you don't wanna to. Or you can choose to dial it in for your preference, as long as it is within +- 1/8" tire wear should be fine.

Ackerman effect aside, McPherson has tendency to toe-in under dive, so toe-out is used to compensate for it. To my knowlege no US mainstream production car has front set toe-out. But it is big in go-carts and autoX.

 

Forgot to mention: on twist beam rear lowering will have no impact on camber. So effectively camber kit on OEM springs and lowering springs should produce very similar results with perhaps slight edge to springs due to lower CG and stiffer rate but at expense of lower clearance and reduced travel